Atlanta Road Trip - Scottish first timers!

Hi my friend, sister and I are visiting Atlanta May 7 for 2 weeks through our work (nurses) and then we are planning on hiring a car and travelling around, we have 8 days and we need to be back in Atlanta for our return flight to Edinburgh. We are looking for suggestions about where to go! We want to visit Memphis to see Graceland and we would also like to visit Nashville. Could anyone tell us if we can manage this in a week, we were hoping to spend a couple of days here and there rather than driving every day. Also we were thinking of hiring a convertable as we can hopefully enjoy the weather on our trip, is this a good idea? Also will it be ok to book motels/hotels along the way? We have a budget of about £1000 each for the road trip. Also we will have a weekend off at the end of our first week and are open to suggestions about what to see whilst actually in Atlanta. Thanks in advance for any help, Karen

Ceud mìle fàilte! Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

You have time in your week of RoadTripping to spend a couple of days each in Memphis and Nashville, as well as make a stop or two while en route. You also have time to make sure that you're back in Atlanta for your flight home. Other than your interest in Elvis and music, where to stop and what to see would depend on any other interests you and your traveling companions might have, but here are a few suggestions to get you started. If you make the drive directly from Atlanta to Memphis using I-20/US-78, you will be driving through Tupelo, MS. This is Elvis' birthplace and his home there is another shrine of sorts. In Memphis, besides Graceland, you might want to check out the old Sun Studios where Elvis recorded his first songs, and together with Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins formed the "Million Dollar Quartet". Beale Street is the center of today's music scene in Memphis.

Between Memphis and Nashville, US-64 and the Natchez Trace Parkway make a more scenic and interesting drive than simply taking the motorway I-40. There is a major battlefield from our Civil War at Shiloh that would make a nice break from the drive, even if you aren't terribly interested in history. In Nashville, the 'Grand Ole Opry' actually in a new building. It's traditional home was the Ryman Auditorium. Both are worth a visit.

Returning to Atlanta, you should seriously consider heading east out of Nashville on I-40 and using any one of a number of routes through the southern Appalachians to get a little taste of this area of the country. Possibilities include US-441 through Great Smoky National Park and US-129 through Cherokee National Forest.

Your mode of transportation (convertible or not) and where you stay (pre-book or not) are choices that are entirely up to you.

AZBuck

Thankyou so much for your advice, it has really helped give us a plan for our vacation! We are open to a wide variety of intersests and we are really keen on your suggestions. What a great site! I will be sure to give an update about our much anticipated roadtrip, thanks again Karen